In recent years, portable aspirators have gained popularity, in part due to an increased awareness of the need for sanitary aspiration techniques for avoiding the spread of disease. These aspirators are often used by fire fighters, paramedics, and other rescue and health workers. Most portable aspirators in use today have a soft material housing, typically made of fabric. Human fluids often get trapped into the woven structure of the fabric creating areas fostering blood-borne pathogens. These pathogens can spread disease to both the rescue/health worker using the aspirator or a successive patient. The health and rescue industries are in need of a portable aspirator having a lightweight housing fabricated from a smooth, rigid material such that the outer surface of the housing does not have any crevasses to trap any human fluids fostering the growth of blood-borne pathogens.
Ambulances, especially those used in foreign countries, have very small patient compartments. In addition, in most countries, any device stored in an ambulance must be capable of withstanding a 25 g loading without becoming unsecured. Due to the restricted space and the 25 g loading requirement, in many situations portable aspirators are precluded from being carried in the patient compartment. A shelf, therefore, that can be mounted to a inner wall of the patient compartment, such that it does not take up any of the useful compartment floor space and which is capable of keeping the portable aspirator secured at loadings of up to 25 g's, is much needed by the health and rescue industries around the world.
Typically, after a portable aspirator has been used, the aspirator is plugged into a power unit to recharge its batteries. If a portable aspirator finds many continuous uses in one day while out in rescues with an ambulance, its battery may run dead preventing its further use. A system, therefore, that allows the portable aspirator to be recharged while being securely transported within the ambulance can provide a great benefit to the health and rescue industries.